Game apparatus for simulating a roller derby



Sept. 22, 1953 BARASH 2,653,027

GAME APPARATUS FOR SIMULATING A ROLLER DERBY Filed July 28, 1950 IN V ENTOR.

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Patented Sept. 22, 1953 UNITE S'idi'id acne? QFHQE GAME APPARATUS FORSIMULATIN G A ROLLER DERBY 1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to a game comprising a game board track having aplurality of lanes divided circumferentially into spaces, about whichtwo or more individual teams each represented by several members, one ofwhich is in each lane, are mounted to advance a variable number ofspaces by chance movement of regulating devices, such as a pair of dice.The game is primarily adapted to simulate a roller skating derbycomprising a plurality of teams.

At least two teams, but as many as four, may play. Each team has as manymembers as there are lanes in the track, at least three but preferablyfive, are advanced forward in their respective lanes by chance numbersmade available by a chance indicating device, for example, by throwingdice.

The general objective of the game is to so regulate the disposal of menof a team advanced in parallel lanes of a track, by distributing amongthem chance authorizations to advance a certain number of spacescircumferentially around the track in a manner to allow one member ofthe team to advance beyond the others, while using the other members ofthe same team to obstruct the advance of members of the opposing team.Obstruction of movement is obtained by corresponding members ofdifferent teams operating in the same lane.

While it is possible to advance the movement of members of a particularteam by various chance indicating devices, it is preferred to use thenumerical indication of each both of a pair of dice. By using the totalof a particular throw of both dice to advance one member or the team, inthe case of a roller skating derby, called the jammer, and to advanceother members of a five member team, for example, two thereof by theindication of one of the dice, while advancing the other two members asindicated by the other die of the same throw, a single throw serves toadvance the whole team in an irregular manner variable with the choiceof the player.

Fig. 1 shows the playing board and markings thereon as well as severalplaying pieces.

Fig. 2 shows a chance device such as a pair of dice.

As shown in Fig. l the board has marked thereon an ovular tracksubdivided into a plurality of lanes. Each lane is further subdividedwith a plurality of markings into circumferentially disposed spaces,each space indicating a team member position.

The game is provided with playing pieces each corresponding to a memberof a team. Such playing pieces may be quoits, discs, blocks, mounds orfigurines representing each member distinctively and attractivelycolored to distinguish one team from the other, and further bearingnumbers, letters or other indicia identifying individual members of theteam. There are as many playing pieces as there are members of allteams, thus for example for five lanes in the track there would be fivemembers of a particular color representing a team, each bearing a numbercorresponding to the position of such lane, in which the member is tooperate, on the track. The next team will be similarly composed of anequal number of members similarly numbered but distinctively colored todistinguish this team from the first. As indicated there may be two tofour teams so that two to four people may play this game.

The game board It has mounted thereon an annular track ll, subdividedinto a plurality of lanes i2, i2'l2 each lane being parallel to andconcentric with the general configuration to define the track. Each lanemay be colored or marked to attractively delineate the boundariesthereof, if desired, to avoid confusion as to which lane a particularmember is following.

The track H has marked at a particular position comprising a startinglane or point it at which point play is begun for each of the teams,each member lining up in their respective lanes at the particularposition indicated thereby. The playing pieces l4 distinctively coloredfor each of the teams are arranged each member in a lane at the startingpoint i3 and after one aligned team is moved away from the startingpoint as play is initiated the next team is mounted in the same startingplace and it moves off either to advance a greater or shorter distance,i. e., number of circumferential spaces as directed by the chance play,of a pair of dice Pi thrown on the board.

As indicated by the rules for a roller derby set forth her-einbelow, itis possible for players to incur penalties for which purpose, and tosatisfy the penalty, a member of a team may be removed from its lane andplaced in a penalty box id of which there are as many penalty boxes asthere are teams. The penalty boxes are preferably placed in the trackenclosure but may be placed in any position on the board outside thetrack.

For simulating a roller skating derby the play is approximately asfollows, using for example two teams:

The person playing for one of the teams will roll the dice and theperson playing for the other team will roll next to determine by thenumber indicated by the dice which team will line up on the track first.The highest number on the dice wins first position and that players teamaccordingly will move first. That team is then lined up the track, eachmember of a team in its respective lane, and the two dice are rolled bythe first player. One of the members of the team is designated by theplayer as the jammer and is moved out the number of squares asdesignated on the chance sum of the two dice thrown. The remaining fourplayers are designated as the pack, assuming that there are five lanesand five players on each team, and two thereof are moved the number ofcircumferential spaces indicated by the one of the dice, and the othertwo men are moved the number of spaces shown on the other dice. Forexample, should a six and four be rolled on the dice, the jammer wouldbe moved spaces, two members of the pack six spaces, the other twomembers of the pack, four spaces. Thereafter, the second team is placedat the starting point and moved similarly by a throw of the dice by thesecond player. The principle of the game is for the jammer of each teamwith the advantage of throwing the greater number of spaces moved, tocircle the track and come up behind the slower moving pack and then passopposing members of the pack. This is done by continuing the rolling ofdice by each player.

The jammer moving around and coming up behind the pack ultimately passesmembers of the opposing pack and scores points according to eachopposing member passed. Thus if the jammer passes one or two opposingmembers a point is scored; if he passes three or four of them, twopoints; and the player may have a choice after moving a jammer past theopposing pack of either continuing around the track to try to catch upwith the opposing jammer and pass all five men to score five points orterminate the play. Of the two jammers, who have moved out beyond theirpacks, the leading jammer may have the privilege so long as he isleading to terminate the play and in that way either protect the membersof his team or to just waste time if he only has a small lead, to obtaina winning score resulting from a certain predetermined' playing time.

If in the roll of the dice one or two or as many as four of the membersof one pack find it possible to land on top of or occupy the same spaceas the corresponding members of the other pack in the same lane, theopposing member so covered is restrained from movement, until thepinning member is advanced, thusfacilitating a jammer in passing thepinned pack number and thereby score. If one of the jammers pass allfive members of the opposing team for five points, the play is thenautomatically stopped. As a reward for passing all five members of theopposing team, it may be jam skaters privilege to place a penalty on oneof the members of the other team. Then one of the members of that teamis taken from the track and placed in the penalty box, out of actionuntil another point has been scored by either team. The penalized membermay then automatically go back into 4 play at the starting position as amember of his pack. If by the chance play the jammer of a particularteam is himself stopped another member of the team may be designated asthe jammer.

As thus described a game comprising a track is divided into lanes,comprising radial spaces whereby two teams are simultaneously operatedby chance indication of a number of spaces which individual members ofeach team may be advanced. The essential feature 01' the game is thatwhere a plurality of teams are operating against each other in the sametrack, individual members of one team may block the advance of membersof the other team.

Various modifications of the rules of such game, as well as varioustypes of penalties may be included, and while the example given above isintended to simulate that of a typical roller derby, other types ofgames may be included within the structure described in the drawingsherein.

I claim:

A game adapted to simulate a roller skating derby, comprising incombination a playing board having an annular track thereon, said trackcomprising a plurality of annular lanes each of which is subdivided froma starting point common to all lanes into an equal number of spaces, aplurality of teams each composed of several playing pieces, one playingpiece for each lane of said track, each playing piece being sized to fitwithin each of said spaces, the group of playing pieces comprising eachteam being characteristically marked to designate the team, said markingbeing distinguished from markings on the group of playing piecesdesignating another team, whereby playing pieces for each team mountedin each lane may be positioned to obstruct one or more players of anopposing team similarly mounted for movement in each lane forsimultaneous play by movement piece-wise, one team against the other,said playing board having further marked thereon away from said trackmarking at least one marking designating an enclosure comprising apenalty box, said penalty box marking enclosing a space large enough onthe surface of said board within which several of said playing piecesmay be placed, and a chance device comprising a pair of dice adapted onchance throw thereof to indicate two digital numbers, said numbers beingless in sum than the total spaces in a lane in said track fordesignating a number of spaces to be moved by one or more players fromspace to space about said track, whereby each member of a team may bemoved a chance controlled irregular number of spaces about said trackvariable among the players of each team.

ROBERT F. BARASH.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 1,448,201 Cornell Mar. 31, 1923 1,493,738 Cowan May 13, 19241,797,742 Ward Mar. 24, 1931

